July 3, 2023
OLEAGINOUS
George
Will used the word “oleaginous”
in
the opening of a column he wrote.
First
reaction: what does that mean?
I
had no clue. I had years and years
of
courses in both Latin and Greek,
but
I couldn’t figure out its meaning.
Then
I heard him being interviewed.
He
was asked about that word:
“oleaginous.”
He said it was a SAT word.
He
used it to describe a person who
is
oily, slippery, sneaky, greasy,
tricky
and too smooth for comfort.
I
found his late night interview
on
the Lawrence O’Donnell show
challenging
and a good examination
of both conscience and consciousness.
